Wednesday, July 17, 2024

Speed 2: Cruise Control

 


Speed 2: Cruise Control
(Original Motion Picture Score)

Music Composed by
Mark Mancina

To accompany our previous release, Renovatio Records proudly presents a new album for Mark Mancina’s score for the 1997 action film Speed 2: Cruise Control. Directed by Jan De Bont, the movie sees Sandra Bullock reprising her role from the original Speed, with Jason Patric, Willem Dafoe, Temuera Morrison, and Brian McCardie joining the main cast. This sequel follows Annie, who goes on a Caribbean vacation with her boyfriend Alex Shaw aboard a luxury cruise ship. Their trip takes a dangerous turn when the ship is hijacked by computer hacker John Geiger, who seeks revenge against the cruise line after being dismissed due to copper poisoning.

In the history of sequels, Speed 2: Cruise Control is often regarded as one of the most ridiculous. The film was not only a financial flop, failing to recoup even half of its $110 million budget domestically, but it was also panned by critics and audiences alike for its laughable dialogue, thin characterization, and familiar plot devices. The absence of Keanu Reeves, who refused to return as Jack Traven from the first film, was also keenly felt. However, despite these flaws, the sequel manages to deliver exciting action sequences in its final act, featuring the cruise in a collision course with an oil tanker and a dramatic impact into the marina of Saint Martin town.

One standout element of the film is Mark Mancina’s score. Initially, Mancina planned to reuse themes from Speed in a new way, but director Jan De Bont instructed him to create a completely different score to give the sequel its own musical identity. The result is a score that combines many of Speed’s ideas with new motifs and themes, creating a more elaborate and expansive musical experience. Compared to the 68 players from the first score, the sequel features nearly 100 musicians, including eight steel drum players and other specialty percussionists, giving the music a tropical feel that aligns with the film’s maritime setting.

Percussion plays a significant role throughout the score, perfectly accompanying the film's fast-paced and adrenaline-fueled scenes. Mancina introduces an effective new action motif that appears right from the opening bike chase scene, interplaying with the original action motif from Speed. This new motif underscores many of the film's action sequences later in the film and is often accompanied by a noble theme which, similarly to the one from the first movie, is used throughout to dramatically highlight the dangers at stake. The noble theme makes standout appearances during the opening part of the thrilling cue “Evacuation,” a standout of the score. This cue also introduces a hero theme at the 2:44 minute mark, which is characterized by a progression ascending three-note sequences, and underscores Alex’s steady heroism, while tragic renditions of the noble theme accentuate the passengers' fear during perilous moments as they are being lowered into a dangling lifeboat in the middle of a tropical night storm.

For Annie and Alex, Mancina provides a love theme, introduced in acoustic guitar during the first half of the cue “Alex and Annie / Welcome to the Seabourn Legend.” A tropical variation of this theme, featuring drum percussion and guitar solos, captures the Caribbean vacation atmosphere. An alternate version of this tropical statement, “Caribbean Cruise,” closes the album, this time with sultry saxophone solos. In contrast to the high-energy action cues, these statements are particularly refreshing with their light jazz, rock, and reggae influences brightening the score.

For the villainous Geiger, Mancina devised a slimy theme inspired by a scene where Geiger uses leeches to cleanse his poisoned blood. This theme, distinctively different from the rest of the score, employs deep strings, light percussion, and eerie synthetic sounds to create an ominous momentum and techno-savvy rhythm, effectively highlighting the character's sinister nature and computer skills. The theme is introduced in “Geiger Below Decks” and recurs in several action sequences, emphasizing the gravity of Geiger’s actions.

Another highlight of the score comes at the beginning, with a fun reworking of the 20th Century Fox fanfare, composed by Alfred Newman. Mancina sustains the final chord and transitions seamlessly into the opening action cue “Motorcycle Chase,” a creative and engaging approach that should definitely be explored more often by composers and filmmakers.

Initially, Mancina's score was not released on CD to avoid competition with the songs soundtrack album. Due to the film's poor performance, the score became only available as a low-quality bootleg. However, in June 2010, La-La Land Records presented a 3000-unit limited edition album featuring around 70 minutes of music, much of which was not used in the film due to constant re-edits. While some film music enthusiasts argue that Mancina’s score for Speed 2 is better than the original, others feel that some action and suspense material becomes repetitive, a criticism partly attributed to the length of the La-La Land Records album. Renovatio Records addresses this issue by presenting the highlights of the score, meticulously edited to enhance the listening experience.

Jump aboard Mark Mancina's score for Speed 2: Cruise Control and enjoy its effective blend of high-energy action themes, melodic richness, and innovative percussion. Although the film itself may not have been as successful as the original, Mancina's work on Speed 2 deserves recognition as a standout example of 1990s blockbuster scoring.


Track listing:

1. Twentieth Century Fox Fanfare/Motorcycle Chase (3:35)
2. Alex and Annie/Welcome to the Seabourn Legend (5:11)
3. Geiger Below Decks (4:29)
4. Overboard (2:31)
5. Evacuation (6:56)
6. Ballast Doors (1:30)
7. Reunion (2:43)
8. We Have to Stop the Ship (2:19)
9. The Propeller (2:23)
10. Tanker Turn (7:00)
11. We Made It (1:25)
12. Crashing Into the Island (5:51)
13. Final Chase (6:40)
14. Underwater Rescue (1:44)
15. The Docking (0:49)
16. Caribbean Cruise (2:58)

Total Running Time: 58:04



Size: 375.0 MB
Files type: FLAC Audio File [.flac]
Channels: 2 (stereo)
Sample Rate: 44.1 KHz
Sample Size: 16 bit
Bit Rate: 1,411 kbps


Cover Artwork:





Credits:

Music Composed and Arranged by Mark Mancina

Supervising Orchestrator and Conductor: Don Harper

Assistant Arrangers: John Van Tongeren, Christopher Ward
Orchestrators: Gordon Goodwin, David Metzger, Tom Calderero
Score Recorded and Mixed by Steve Kempster
Assistant Scoring Mixer: David Nottingham
Recorded and Mixed at Todd-AO Scoring, The Village Recorder
Orchestra Contracted by Sandy De Crescent
Music Preparation: Jo Ann Kane Music Service
Associate Music Supervisors: Genevieve Thomas Colvin, Amy Dunn
Music Editor: Zigmund M. Gron
Assistant Music Editor: Robb Boyd

Original Film Score Published by Fox Film Music Corp. (BMI)

"Twentieth Century Fox Fanfare"
Composed by Alfred Newman
Published by T C F Music Publishing, Inc. (ASCAP)


Cue Assembly:

Track Title

Cue Title

1. Twentieth Century Fox Fanfare/Motorcycle Chase

Twentieth Century Fox Fanfare

Motorcycle Chase Part 1

Motorcycle Chase Part 2 (Edited)

Motorcycle Chase Part 3 (Edited)

2. Alex and Annie/Welcome to the Seabourn Legend

Alex and Annie

Cruising Alternate 1

3. Geiger Below Decks

Engine Room (Edited)

Auto Pilot (Edited)

4. Overboard

Overboard

Geiger Calls Giuliano (Edited)

5. Evacuation

Evacuation (Edited)

6. Ballast Doors

Close the Hatch

7. Reunion

Reunion

8. We Have to Stop the Ship

We Have to Stop the Ship

9. The Propeller

The Propeller (Edited)

10. Tanker Turn

Tanker Turn (Edited)

11. We Made It

The Harbor

12. Crashing Into the Island

Crashing Into the Island (Edited)

The Docking Part 1

13. Final Chase

Final Chase

14. Underwater Rescue

Underwater Rescue

15. The Docking

The Docking Part 2

16. Caribbean Cruise

Cruising Alternate 2


Motion picture artwork, logos and photos © 1997 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. This compilation and cover artwork © 2024 Renovatio Records. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable laws. For promotional use only.

Renovatio Records [0-01702-19063]

2 comments:

  1. Dear sir, thank you for all these wonderful treassures, listen, I want to give you something in return, I have a lot of soundtracks bought and paid for, I buy from LaLaLand Records and Qobuz Download Stores, is there anything you want that I could give you, please let me know, I am so grateful to you for what you are doing (but dash it, excluding the mystique "Skyfall" theme, and not including "The Seven Sisters" on Lady In The Water doesn't quite make sense, however, as you Americans say, "to each his own" :) ). Love from Norway, brother!

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    Replies
    1. Appreciate the feedback! Comments like these keeps us going!
      As for the missing cues, they're there in our albums in one way or the other. The Skyfall cue can be found in "Drive to Skyfall". "The Seven Sisters" from Lady In The Water is a shortened version of the first half of "Book Confession". We try to keep all the highlights of each score, as long as they make the album fluent and entertaining.

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